


Umbrella Under the Sun

by myhandsarebunnies



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Complete, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-19 22:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2404619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhandsarebunnies/pseuds/myhandsarebunnies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phinks and Feitan are sent out on a mission to find and interrogate a member of a wealthy mafia family for the locations of their strongholds but find more than they had planned to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fun in the Sun

Chapter 1: Fun in the Sun

“I don’t get why I had to come with you. It’s not like you can’t handle this on your own.”

“If you had been listening when the boss was explaining this to everyone, you’d know a team of powerful blacklist hunters are working together to eliminate the spiders. Uvogin had a run in with them the other day and now the boss doesn’t want anyone leaving the hideout unaccompanied. Besides, you’re just in a bad mood because you forgot your robe.”

Phinks huffed in frustration as a response, lagging behind his companion slightly as they trekked onward. The desert they were traveling through was suffocating. The air around the pair shimmered in the heat but remained still, refusing to give even the slightest breeze of relief. The white tanktop Phinks wore provided little protection from the sun, he was getting sunburned through the shirt, and had been drenched in sweat for a while now. His army green cargo pants were also uncomfortably stifling. Phinks had a long robe that would have kept the sun off his skin but he had left it behind in their haste to leave when they saw Hisoka and Machi returning from their mission. The look on Machi’s face was enough to know they wouldn’t want to be within ten miles of the hideout in a minute.

Phinks glared at Feitan jealously, in addition to his usual long robe, Feitan had his umbrella to help him avoid the sun’s rays. Phinks wanted to ask if he could hold the umbrella so they would both benefit from it’s shade but figured the smaller spider would probably just ignore him.

Phinks huffed in frustration again as he noticed how red his arms had gotten. He hoped he had a chance to pick up something to help the sunburns and a replacement for the forgotten robe in the city they were traveling to.

A slight movement of Feitan’s head caught Phinks’ attention and he looked up at the horizon. The shape of a small city was coming into view.

“We’re almost there.” Feitan stated monotonously.

“I can see that!” Phink’s snapped back.

Feitan turned around to make a retort but froze staring up at his blonde companion. They locked eyes for a second but before Phinks could ask why he had stopped, Feitan let out a shriek of laughter. His whole body shook with amusement as he fell to his knees, dropping the umbrella. As Feitan lay on the ground gasping for air, Phinks asked what was so funny, his face turning red from more than the sun. These words just set off another burst of laughter.

“You...your...I can’t…” Feitan tried to speak but was having difficulty getting the words out. Finally he managed to regain some composure.

“You look ridiculous!” he choked out. “You’re going to have some impressive tanlines in a few days.”

“Well this wouldn’t have happened if you had shared your umbrella with me!” Phinks thundered. He was desperately repressing the urge to pummel Feitan into the ground.

“I would have just given it to you if you had just asked,” the smaller spider responded, his voice almost back to normal. He stood up and dusted himself off. “Now you’re going to draw too much attention to yourself. This mission is supposed to be low-key.”

Before Phinks could grumble something in response, Feitan held out his umbrella.

“Here, you need it more than I do.”

Phinks was momentarily taken aback but quickly snatched the umbrella from his partner.

“Thanks,” he muttered almost too quiet for Feitan to hear.

“Your welcome, you moron.”

Phinks wanted to respond to the insult but was afraid Feitan might try to take the umbrella back if he did. After Feitan was sure Phinks wouldn’t rise to the bait, he turned back toward the town.

“First we’re going to get you something to wear and medicine for your skin. Next, we need to find an out-of-the-way place to carry out the interrogation, then we can begin locating our target. Shalnark said his sources point to an underground gambling ring in a barkeeper’s basement as the most likely place to find him but we’re going to need the password to get in.”

“Why can’t we just force our way in?” Phinks asked, twirling the umbrella slightly as he enjoyed his new shade.

“No. As I said before, we’re supposed to be low-key. Chrollo doesn’t want to risk the blacklist hunter group finding out about our movements. If they’re smart enough, they could piece together what we’re up to and lay traps.” He stopped and turned to look at Phinks. “So we’re doing this my way. Get in, get the target, get the information, and dispose of the body so no one knows we were here.”

“Fine!” Phinks replied fighting to stay calm. He didn’t like taking orders from anyone but Chrollo but he also didn’t want to get melanoma.

 


	2. Low-key

The sandy brown buildings stood in defiance of the terrain, none of them more than three stories tall to avoid damage in the dust storms that were common in the region. There were few citizens outside this time of day allowing the out-of-place duo to move easily through the streets.

“The buildings have rounded edges so the wind flows past them easier in dust storms, making it less likely for damage to occur.” Feitan stated nonchalantly knowing full when Phinks wasn’t listening.

“Uh-huh,” Phinks responded looking at every building for one that might sell clothes or medicine.

“There,” Feitan pointed at a small shop to the left with a display in the small window of a comfortable looking desert robe.

Phinks started to run towards it but the umbrella created drag that almost yanked it out of his hands. After panicking for a second, he fixed his grip on the handle. He turned to grin sheepishly at Feitan who just glared.

“Sorry.”

Feitan sighed and walked toward his companion as Phinks resumed trotting in the direction of the shop.

Phinks stopped in front of the small window and drew back his arm to punch through the glass and grab the robe on display.

“What are you doing?” Feitan asked with a sharp tone in his voice.

“I was...uhhh,” Phinks put his arm down slowly looking slightly confused.

Feitan brushed past him towards the door.

“Low-key,” he muttered quietly but with more of an edge than before.

"But we’re thieves." Phinks groaned to himself closing the umbrella and following after the more in-control spider.

Inside the store was cool and dark, an absolute relief for the both of them after walking through the desert for the past six hours. Display racks formed a cramped maze that looked awkward to navigate and the two walls on the left and right were covered in shelves containing desert robes of all sizes and colors. A tall thin man with a long face jumped up from his place from behind the counter as the two spiders entered.

“Welcome, welcome. I am here to assist y-” he stopped suddenly catching sight of Phinks’ predicament. Laughter began to rise in his throat but died instantly when he noticed the muscular, blond man’s expression. He coughed.

“Excuse me, something in my throat,” he coughed again before motioning toward the merchandise. “Feel free to browse and I’ll answer any questions you have. That rack should be in your size,” addressing Phinks he pointed at a rack with particularly long robes, “and your son would probably fit into those.” He indicated a rack that had some designs which were distinctly child-like.

The shopkeeper waited for thanks but upon receiving nothing but a confused glance from his tall customer and a murderous glare from his “son”, disappeared through a curtain into the backroom.

“But I don't hav- oohhh!” Phinks doubled over cackling with laughter at his realization. “Can we torch this place now?”

“Shut it.” Feitan considered it but decided setting a building situated on a cramped street in a heavily populated city on fire does not fall under the category of “low-key” and moved towards the rack of Phinks-sized robes as his companion recovered.

After examining a few, he pulled out a simple, off-white one.

_This should compliment his new skin color perfectly_. Feitan thought turning to show Phinks but Phinks had gone to look at the Feitan-sized robes instead.

“I like this one.” He held up a powder blue one with a flowery pattern embroidered along the edges that would have definitely fit the dark-haired spider. “You should try it on, it’ll go nicely with your hair and sparkling personality.” He tossed the robe a Feitan who fought the urge to rip it to shreds as he grabbed out of the air. Discarding it on the nearest rack, Feitan resolved to leave revenge for another time.

Dropping the money for Phinks’ robe on the counter he turned to leave the shop. The shopkeeper reappeared at the sound of coins hitting the counter and quickly counted to make sure it was enough.

“Thank you for y-” He was cut off by the door slamming shut.

“I’ll take my umbrella back now.” Feitan threw the new robe a Phinks and grabbed for his umbrella.

“Whatever,” Phinks put the new robe on which fit perfectly, stopping only a couple inches from the ground and covering his arms and hands completely. The color made his red and pink face stand out even more though. “Now for the burn healing stuff.” He set off down the street.

Feitan huffed in reply and, putting his umbrella up, followed.

 


	3. A Lead

“Damn! We could’ve asked him if he knew anything about the gambling ring.” Phinks’ mood had greatly improved with the purchase of his new robe.

“Sure Phinks, because if anyone in this city knows anything about a highly illegal gambling ring held nightly in the basement of a bar, it will be the owner of a shitty clothing store.” Feitan didn’t turn to look at Phinks as he said this, still miffed about the whole “son” thing.

_I get that I’m short but do I really resemble that idiot in any way?_ Feitan glanced at the sunburnt spider who was happily stroking the sleeve of his new robe.

“It’s really soft. You wanna feel it, Fei?” Phinks held out his arm towards his companion. Feitan turned away, ignoring him.

“Just keep an eye out for a pharmacy.”

The thieves continued down the street as the sun burned overhead, still throwing it’s spell of sluggishness and exhaustion over the city’s inhabitants.

Slowly, a building with the word “Pharmacy” painted over the door came into view. The bell over the door rang as they opened the door. There was no one behind the counter but another customer was milling around in the section labeled “Skin Products”.

After a quick glance around, Phinks made a beeline towards the skin products as Feitan followed.

The other customer was a slender, young woman with dark, lightly-curled hair that barely brushed her shoulders and was adorned with a golden flower clip. She was only a little taller than Feitan and wore an expensive-looking emerald robe with delicate gold embroidery. Each of her creamy brown hands held a different skin moisturizer as she compared the two.

Wholly focused on the task at hand she barely noticed the newcomers. She glanced over at them and was quick to hid a smile of amusement upon catching sight of Phinks. Then she noticed Feitan.

Putting down the two bottles she was holding, she moved closer to them.

“I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I assume you two are looking for sunburn ointment.” She spoke addressing the shorter of the two, her voice like sweetened honey as she stood with her hands behind her back.

“What tipped you off?” Feitan asked sarcastically as Phinks began searching the shelves.

She giggled. “I would recommend this one.” She reached across Feitan purposely brushing against him. As she did so, the sleeve of her robe slid back down her right arm a bit revealing her forearm.  Feitan noticed multiple scars marred the otherwise perfect skin of her wrist and forearm. When she had found the one she was looking for, she handed it to the dark-haired spider with a radiant smile showing off her perfectly straight, white teeth. After Feitan took the bottle, the woman quickly shook her sleeve back down her arm hiding the scars. 

Feitan read the label. “‘Afzal’s Sunburn Remedy, extra concentrated, now with more aloe vera, tea tree scented, guaranteed to soothe burning sensation, reduce redness and speed up skin regeneration.”

“It works wonders and tea tree oil smells amazing. Go ahead and smell it.” The woman continued addressing Feitan with the same radiant smile as he just stared back with a slightly disbelieving expression.

“Give it here,” Phinks grabbed the bottle from Feitan and opened it, breathing in it’s aroma deeply. Suddenly, he started coughing and choking at the power of it’s concentrated scent. Feitan snatched the glass bottle and it’s cap out of Phinks’ hands before he could drop it.

“We’ll take it,” Feitan said screwing the cap back on as Phinks retched in the background, leaning with one hand on the shelves to steady himself.

She giggled again and began walking toward the counter.

“If you’ll follow me I can get the owner for you and perhaps a discount. He’s a personal friend you see.” She glanced back over her shoulder at Feitan.

The thief grunted in reply and followed her as Phinks stumbled after the both of them still coughing slightly.

When she reached the counter, the woman called out toward the curtained doorway leading to the backroom softly but clearly, “Mr. Fadil.” They waited but after a while had passed and there was still no response she tried again.

“MR.FADIL!” She yelled harshly, all the previous sweetness gone from her voice. The pair of murdering thieves were slightly taken aback by this sudden change in demeanor but hid it well.

A small, elderly man wearing glasses burst through the curtain looking a little disheveled and panicked.

“Y-y-y-yes, miss?” he asked trying to smooth his sparse hair back into place.

“These two lovely gentlemen would like to make a purchase.” She motioned toward the two men standing beside her who were steadily growing tired of her presence before smiling at Feitan again.

“Y-yes, of c-course.” The old man stuttered taking the bottle from Feitan.

“And,” the woman leaned over the counter, “Could you please give them a discount. As you can see, they’re in dire need of this ointment but, as travelers abroad, they don’t have much money.”

“Of course, m-m-miss.”

They got fifty percent off.

Feitan pulled out a large, heavy wallet and payed for the ointment before taking it back.

The old man bid them farewell and ducked back into the backroom as the two spiders turned to leave the shop.

“Wait!” the woman grabbed for Feitan’s arm but he easily sidestepped away.

“What?” he asked exasperated.

“Well, I never got your name.”

“And you never will.”

They continued past her toward the door but she moved to get between them and the exit.

“My name is Fatine and I thought you would like to meet me for a few drinks tonight.” She spoke without taking her eyes off Feitan.

“Then you thought wrong, now get out of the way.” Phinks moved to push her away but his partner stopped him, putting his hand gently on Phinks’ sensitive arm.

“Which bar?” he asked his hand still on Phinks’ arm.

“Umm… The Starry Night,” she replied.

_That’s the one Shalnark was talking about_. Feitan thought. _She could be of use_.

“Hey, Fei. Isn’t that- OW!” Feitan squeezed the louder spider’s arm to shut him up.

“I’ve heard of that one. I have also heard about the side business the owner runs.” Feitan knew he might be asking too directly but he was too annoyed with her presence and worried Phinks would give something important away to be subtle.

“Oh,” she blushed slightly and looked around to make sure no one was nearby before moving closer to Feitan to whisper, “I may know something.”

 


	4. The Starry Night

“Well that was helpful,” Phinks sighed sarcastically while examining the bottle in his hands.

The pair of thieves wandered down a backstreet as the sun finally began its descent toward the horizon. The buildings around them grew steadily less welcoming as they continued their tour of the shadier part of the city. A few people stumbled past them while other lay passed out in alleyways.

“We’ll get in. I don’t think she’ll fall through on her promise to me.” Feitan responded umbrella held high over his head with one hand, the other shoved into his pocket. He thought back on the conversation that took place just before leaving the pharmacy.

\---

“I’m listening.” Feitan stared intently at the woman in front of him, dropping his hand from Phinks’ arm to his side.

“I don’t think this is the place to talk.” She suddenly turned coy and began twisting a strand of hair around her finger.

“Just tell us-”

Feitan brought his hand toward his partner’s arm in warning as Phinks jumped back out of the way.

“Let you do the talking. Okay, okay, I get it.” Phinks muttered staying out of the smaller spider’s reach and pouting slightly at being left out of the conversation.

“What do you mean you ‘don’t think this is the place to talk’?” Feitan asked.

“How about we meet inside _The Starry Night_ to talk over drinks tonight?” She flashed her brilliant smile at Feitan again, still playing with her hair.

“Alright.” Feitan replied, glad to finally be making progress with this conversation.

“Great!” She clapped her hands together. “I promise to be there.” She winked at him over her shoulder as she swept out the door.

\---

“So now we’re looking for a place to carry out the interrogation right?” Phinks asked slipping the bottle into his pocket.

“Yeah, and we should find a place to spend the night because there is no guarantee we will find the target tonight.” Feitan hoped they wouldn’t have to stay another day. Even the Phantom Troupe’s cramped hideout, with the potential for a disagreement with one of the less amiable spiders at any moment, was preferable to this city and the awkwardly obvious, young woman from the pharmacy.

Phinks shared this line of thinking. The faster they got out of this repressive heat the better.

“That looks promising,” Feitan nodded towards a dilapidated building with a few holes in the walls. “Doesn’t look particularly soundproof but I doubt the neighbors around here are the type to lodge a sound complaint with the neighborhood watch.” Just as Feitan finished his remark a homeless looking man threw up on a building to their left.

“True.”

The spiders went inside and began looking around. It wasn’t long before Phinks came across a trapdoor.

“Perfect.” Feitan descended the ladder as Phinks held the trapdoor open then followed him down closing the door after them.

It took longer than expected to reach the bottom and the space around them was initially a vertical tunnel with the ladder leaning on one the side. When the tunnel opened up, the room they were in was pitch black. Feitan stepped off the ladder and pulled out a flashlight. He turned it on as Phinks reached the ground beside him.

The room wasn’t as spacious as the torture specialist thought it would be but it would do. Eight large candles, each one on a five-foot tall candle holder, were positioned around the room.

“Let’s light the candles and see how much light they provide.” Feitan spoke plainly handing the other spider a box of matches.

The candles lit the cellar perfectly and made it clear there was nothing else of interest held within it.

“We should put a chair and some rope down here before we find a place we could stay the night but otherwise we’re done here for now.” Feitan informed his partner and began putting out candles.

Phinks nodded in agreement and followed suit.

\---

Phinks sat on the one of the beds in the hotel room after showering.The water on his sunburnt skin had been painful but Feitan had insisted Phinks couldn’t go out smelling of sweat and dirt so he forced himself through it. He was wearing beige pants and a clean forest green shirt lay on the bed beside him. They pair had stopped at a different shop to pick up some fresh clothes that helped them blend with the locals a little better after leaving the rope and chair in the makeshift “interrogation room”.

He started to apply the ointment to his arms and chest, careful not to breath in too deeply, as Feitan began showering. It stung at first contact but immediately took the edge off the pain, feeling cold at first to overcome the burning before warming a little to soothe deep through the layers of skin.

_Shit, this stuff is amazing._ Phinks thought to himself as he continued rubbing the healing salve on his upper body.

He had just finished up with his face as Feitan came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. His wet hair plastered to his face as he searched for a second towel to dry it with.

“This stuff works great!” Phinks informed Feitan excitedly.

“Oh, really?” Feitan responded disinterestedly rubbing his hair with a second towel and yawning slightly. Hot showers always made him feel more lucid and relaxed.

“Yeah, but…” Phinks’ enthusiasm fell slightly.

“But…’?” Feitan turned to look at him.

“Well…, I can’t reach my back so… could you…?” He asked a little sheepishly.

Feitan sighed. “Give me the bottle.” He took the bottle from Phinks and sat on the bed behind him. Pouring a bit of the ointment on his hand, Feitan began rubbing Phinks’ broad, well-muscled back from the top right-hand side to the lower-left.

The salve continued working it’s magic. Phinks let out a satisfied sigh as the cool and warm washed over him and he enjoyed the sensation of the ointment and Feitan rubbing his back. He was about to doze off when Feitan stood up and screwed the cap back on.

“Whah?” Phinks’ mumbled a little dazed.

“I’m finished. Do you want something delivered to the room or go out to eat.” Feitan asked getting out his new dark grey shirt and black pants.

“I don’t care.” Phinks fell backwards onto the bead and promptly fell asleep.

“Something delivered it is then.” the dark-haired spider sighed as he pulled on his shirt.

\---

Later that night, the two outlaws arrived at the bar, a dinner of take-out noodles (“The food of your people.” Phinks had proclaimed holding a box of noodles above his head like a precious artifact. Feitan had kicked him in response, laughing slightly as he stuffed food in his mouth.) settling nicely in their stomachs as they entered the bar, looking around for Fatine.

“She probably won’t be here yet but if at all possible I would rather overhear someone else giving the password so we can avoid talking-” Feitan stopped dead and tensed up glaring at a particular patron of the bar sitting casually at the counter. “What the fuck is he doing here?!” he hissed at Phinks.

“Who?... Oh.” Phinks saw what his companion had noticed and tensed up as well, readying for a fight.

The man sitting on a bar stool at the counter noticed them and motioned for them to join him.

“What should-” Phinks started but Feitan cut him off.

“Just let me do the talking.” Feitan began walking toward the bar, all senses fully engaged.

“Funny seeing you two here.” Hisoka remarked in an all too pleased tone. He gestured at the empty seats beside him. “Take a seat, have a drink.”

The duo ignored his invitation. Not even blinking Feitan asked quietly, “What are you doing here?”

Hisoka sighed dramatically taking a sip from his glass. “Well I have a reason but I’m not going to tell you. What are you doing here?”

Phinks fought the urge to point out that Feitan asked first.

“Because we’re supposed to be. I don’t think Chrollo told you to come here, especially not alone.” The two partners glanced around but failed to spot Machi or any other of the spiders in the bar.

“Chrollo is a man of many mysteries. Who’s to say he didn’t tell me to do exactly that?” Hisoka purred sidestepping the veiled accusations. “Why do you think I shouldn’t be here anyway?” He chose to directly address Phinks with this question.

Phinks fought to keep his tone even and calm.

“Because,” he whispered through his teeth as Feitan shot him a warning glance, “We are on a discreet mission from the boss, as in low-key and important and not something we should be drawing attention to ourselves with. We are trying to blend in and accomplish out orders without arousing suspicion or being noticed.” Phinks tried to hammer his point home as hard as he could. “And you,” he motioned frantically at Hisoka’s outfit, a black crop-top with red playing-card symbols, a lime-green undershirt and armbands, white pants and heels in addition to his quaffed magenta hair and the symbols on his cheeks, “Are the opposite of everything I just said.”

“True…” Hisoka replied a smile curling on his face. His head was resting on his hand propped on the table so he was looking at them slightly sideways, “But maybe my mission is to not be subtle.”

“Why?!” Phinks’ emotions were starting to get the better of him.

Feitan motioned for him to be quiet and turned to look Hisoka in the eye.

“With well-organized, well-coordinated blacklist hunters hunting for us, that wouldn’t be the case. Chrollo wants us to go to great lengths to avoid making a scene so he wouldn’t give you an assignment that contradicted ours.” Feitan reasoned.

Noticing he was being back into a corner, Hisoka switched objectives.

“What happened to you?” he pointed at Phinks and cocked an eyebrow.

“The sun.” Phinks hissed through his teeth.

“You walked through the desert?” he laughed. “Why? I took a bus.”

Only slightly distracted by the mental image of Hisoka taking public transport and all the poor bystanders who had to share a bus with him, Phinks wondered vaguely why they did walk. “Low-key.” he muttered slightly less convinced.

“Not that… conversing with you hasn’t been the highlight of my day but we really should get back to what we’re supposed to be doing.” Feitan turned to walk away but stopped when Hisoka spoke again.

“You won’t get in without the password.” he said almost too quiet to hear.

Feitan turned back. “How did you-?”

Hisoka broke into a huge smile. “You don’t know what it is do you?”

“And you do?”

Hisoka sighed in mock disappointment and motioned for them to come closer. “Marigold.”

 

 


	5. The Target

“I don’t like him helping us.” Phinks muttered glancing back over his shoulder at a smiling Hisoka waving at them as they walked away.

“Me either. I also doubt Chrollo was the one to send him out here but we can deal with that later.” Feitan walked with his hands deep in his pockets as he tried to push thoughts of the magician out of his mind. Focus would be key in these next few hours.

The pair approached the door that lead to the basement. Standing in front of the entry was a muscular, bald man wearing sunglasses. He had a scowl etched on his face and wore a suit that made him look like some kind of crime lord.

“What a joke.” Phinks whispered. Feitan nodded in agreement.

Stopping in front of the bald man, an entirely-not-intimidated Feitan gave the password. After shooting a warning look at the passive dark-haired spider and his arrogantly smirking companion, the man let them pass.

They descended the stairs behind the door until they reached another one. Feitan turned to look at Phinks before opening the door.

“The target is a child of the head of the Samara family and, as such, is likely wearing the Samara family crest on some piece of jewelry or clothing. The crest is two gold scimitars crossed underneath a pink alstroemeria blossom on a royal blue background. Find that symbol and you’ve found our target.” Feitan spoke slowly making sure Phinks absorbed every word.

“I know. Boss told us this already.” Phinks responded through his teeth.

“Sure,” Feitan was unconvinced but let the matter slide as he turned to open the door.

Inside was unexpectedly crowded as people gathered around tables to play card games, bet on the outcomes of these card games or socialize. The patrons were a mix of all social and economic backgrounds. Fine suits and rolex watches stood next to patched up, bargain-bin robes as everyone gambled away their money. A second bar was set up along the wall to the left and was, quite frankly, more impressive than the one upstairs.   

Phinks took the initiative, eager to prove to his partner that he was an asset to this mission.

“You take the left side and I’ll take the right. We’ll look for the crest without drawing attention to ourselves and meet at the bar counter whether we find something or not.”

Feitan agreed and they split up, careful not to be suspicious although the gamblers were too focused on their own activities to notice the pair of thieves.  

Unable to find the Samara crest Phinks went to join the other spider who was sitting at the bar.

“Couldn’t find anything. You?” Phinks inquired taking a seat.

“Nothing.” Feitan glanced over his shoulder at the crowd behind them. “We should focus on the more affluent looking ones. I doubt the head of the largest crime family on this continent would allow their child to go out in rags.”

“People with that much money like to show off. I’m sure the idiot is looking for a chance to brag to someone about how wealthy and powerful their family is. We just have to be that person.”

“Exactly.” Feitan turned around to face the room and was just about to stand up and resume his search when an annoyingly familiar figure dropped into the seat on his other side.

“I thought you wanted to meet outside.” Fatine pouted at the dark-haired man, sitting sideways on the stool so she was facing him. She wore a green silk dress that left little to the imagination and was adorned with emerald earrings and a gold watch on her left wrist. “How did you get in here anyway? Well, it doesn’t matter. Now we’re both here we can get something to drink and you can tell me what your name is.” She batted her artificially lengthened eyelashes at Feitan as he stared back, expressionless.

“We have business here so fuck off!” Phinks had been annoyed with this woman from the start. He didn’t like the attention she was giving Feitan, he didn’t like how she had chosen to dress she was knowing she was meeting Feitan and he REALLY didn’t like how she was slowly leaning closer to him, attempting to put her left hand on his knee.

Feitan, noticing Fatine’s intentions, was about to stand up when he caught sight of her watch. Freezing, he let her touch his knee.

Phinks stood up violently, face flushed with anger as he started to yell.

“YOU -” He was cut off suddenly by the look of pure ice shot at him by Feitan. Phinks’ gaze moved from his partners face to the hand on his knee. The watch was formed from a delicate, intricate design of roses weaved around each other while the watch face sported gold numbers and arms. However, it was the background design on the face that first Feitan and now Phinks had noticed. Two gold scimitars crossed underneath a pink alstroemeria blossom on a royal blue background.

Feitan turned cooly back to the startled woman, cocked an eyebrow, and spoke in a low, smooth voice.

“Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more… intimate to talk.”


	6. Confusion

_Flaunty, tactless, obnoxious, floozy…_ Phinks followed Feitan and Fatine at a safe distance, keeping out of sight. Far from thrilled with the recent turn of events, the sunburnt spider was thankful the mission would be over as soon as the information was extracted and the target eliminated. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he glared at the woman who had attached herself to his partner the moment he had suggested leaving _The Starry Night_.

Fatine had her arms wrapped around Feitan’s as he escorted her down the dark, almost empty streets. She had been talking at him nonstop since leaving the bar and showed no sign of letting up. Feitan would nod occasionally to keep her interested but was already planning ahead for what would happen when they got to the cellar.

Turning down a backstreet, the scenery starting changing from well-maintained storefronts and homes to crumbling buildings that contained more vermin than people. The sound of retching from an ally startled Fatine and she noticed how much the surroundings had changed.

“Ummm… Where are you taking me?” she asked slowly looking around wide-eyed.

“Shortcut,” the change in her tone had driven Feitan back into reality. He had suspected she would get paranoid when they took a turn into the darker neighborhood and was debating whether or not to knock her out and carry her the rest of the way but decided it could draw unwanted attention.

She pressed herself closer to the dark-haired man.

“I didn’t realize we would be-” she was cut off by Phinks’ hand coming down on the back of her neck and she collapsed almost pulling Feitan to the ground.

“What the hell, Phinks?!” Feitan rounded on the tall thief, exasperated.

“She was getting nervous. I didn’t think it was a good idea to let her make a scene so I took care of it.” he replied unabashedly, unphased by his partners reaction.

“I would have done it myself but thought carrying an unconscious woman down the backstreets was a little less than subtle.” Feitan hissed, annoyed at his partners impulsiveness. he spun around and continued down the street. “You’re carrying her.”

“Fine.” Phinks barked sharply, upset with his mistake. He slung Fatine over his shoulder haphazardly and hurried to catch up to the dark-haired spider.

\--

Phinks had never really enjoyed watching Feitan torture people. He prefered killing those who could fight back in a battle of strength and ability. An incapacitated victim provided no challenge and the outcome was always certain. Where was the sport in that? He had reconsidered his disinterest in watching Feitan work for this special case but the smaller spider had insisted he keep watch for undesirable visitors.

A soft, cool breeze blew past, ruffling the blond spider’s clothes slightly as he stood guard outside the cellar door. He listened to the insects chirping softly in the otherwise quiet night and sighed peacefully.

_Soon that horrible woman will be disposed of and we can return to the boss, mission accomplished._ Phinks wasn’t quite sure why he loathed Fatine as much as he did. She talked continuously but otherwise hadn’t really done anything to inspire such feelings of enmity inside him but everytime he thought of how she looked at Feitan and how her sole goal seemed to be to get as close as physically possible to him… Phinks kicked a nearby rock sending it flying through a deteriorating wall, adding another hole to its collection. He was going to enjoy burying this one.

\--

After tying Fatine securely to the chair, Feitan pulled a small collection of metal instruments from underneath his shirt, laid them on the ground and began deliberating which to use first.

As he toyed with the idea of removing her fingernails first, a classic move, she started to stir.

“Good. You’re waking up. All this would be pointless with-”

High-pitched laughter cut him off. Feitan looked up at the woman tied to the chair with surprise and breathed in sharply at what he saw.

 


	7. Washa

Feitan dodged out of the way as that which was Fatine charged him again. The creature hit the wall taking a chunk out with it’s teeth. Feitan tried sprinting for the ladder but the creature was faster. Screeching, it skidded into the space between him and freedom.

\--

Shortly after waking up, the thing had easily broken free of the flimsy chair and simple ropes, roaring as it did. It’s voice hissed and scratched, grating on the ears of the completely bewildered thief. Stretching to it’s full height, still barely taller than Feitan, the monster’s ashen brown skin rippled with the muscles tensing beneath as the seams of the dress strained against this new shape. It’s black hair frizzing around its harsh, twitching face as its yellow-green eyes rolled unfocused in their sockets. The mouth seemed too big for its face, suffocating its other facial features with the gleaming white of the too-sharp, too-numerous teeth as it opened and closed, the pink, moist flesh of the gums and heart-stopping maw on full display as its thin lips slid into something barely resembling a smile.

Feitan had jumped back in shock.

“Wha?” he gasped.

“I am Washa.” the being rasped each word between deep, heavy breaths. “You have tried to hurt me. You will not go unpunished.”

It lurched at the small spider, jaws wide and thick arms outstretched to swipe with needle-like claws.

Feitan came to his sensed leaping out of the way just in time, he rolled across the floor and sprung to his feet. The creature calling itself Washa hit the wall and changed directions to try again.

\--

Phinks sat on a wall, unaware of the commotion below him, and thought about Feitan. They had known each other for a while now, ever since he joined the Troupe in its early days. He and the small, pale Feitan had an immediate but unusual connection. Their competitive spirits and low-maintenance attitudes made it easy to be around one another for long periods of time, a fact Chrollo picked up on quickly and took advantage of as he rarely assigned one to a mission without the other. They worked well together, pushing each other but also providing support. Phinks couldn’t think of anyone else in the world he would rather fight and die beside.

He thought about how Feitan would always listen to what he had to say even though his track record on good ideas was lacking and how the smaller spider appeared to care about him even if he did seem to do things, on occasion, to intentionally put Phinks in a painful or dangerous situation. Phinks thought about Feitan’s impenetrable demeanor, the way he would usually walk with his hands in his pockets, how his hair blew around his face when there was a soft breeze and how he smiled and laughed at the jokes Phinks knew were lame but told anyway. Phinks sat back and smiled wistfully.

The feeling was short lived, however, as the blond spider felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and a cold, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong.

Jumping off the wall, Phinks dashed to the cellar’s trap door and threw it open. Inside he could hear heavy thudding and Feitan crying out.

\--

Washa was fast and showed no sign of slowing down as it bounced from wall to wall trying to catch Feitan in its embrace. Feitan was trying to keep pace but it was getting closer and closer at each attempt. Trying to look for an opening, the pale thief watched Washa’s movements carefully. As it was about to hit the wall again, Feitan made his move leaping at Washa’s head. But when he was only a hand’s length away, its arm shot up.

Fingers wrapping tightly around his thin neck, Feitan was slammed against the wall knocking the wind out of him. He gasped and grappled with the surprisingly strong hand at his throat that was slamming him again and again against the wall but Washa’s ability was starting to take effect. He could feel the nen drain out of him, seeping out of his aura nodes. He tried to conjure his umbrella but didn’t have the energy. He looked down into the eyes of the creature leaching his life away. They were growing brighter. Something like electricity ran behind those eyes, flashing, intangible and erratic. Taking as deep a breath as he was able with the ashen, steel ropes of his attacker’s fingers pressing on his trachea, he screamed.

The world around him was becoming fuzzy and dark. Even the pain from the repeated pounding of his back into the wall was starting to fade. Feitan’s eyelids began to droop and his body relaxed. Suddenly, all the pressure on his throat was lifted and the hand disappeared. The small, badly-beaten spider crumpled to the floor gasping. Still fighting for breath, Feitan looked up at the figure standing over him.

“You okay, Fei?”

 


	8. Struggle

Feitan kneeled on the floor and stared up at Phinks clutching his severely bruised neck and fighting to get his breathing back to normal. Phinks stood between Washa and his partner, shielding him with his body from the savage. A cold, vengeful look etched into his features as his piercing gaze bore into Washa. His body was rigid, ready to spring, fists clenched at his side.

“Fine,” Feitan choked.

He looked past the blond spider’s legs at the snarling beast across the room focusing on the hand that, moments ago, was about to end his life. It twitched, clenching and unclenching like a wrathful spider cheated out of a particularly satisfying meal. Feitan, remembering how Fatine’s right arm had been marred at the pharmacy, focused on the monster’s arm.  Sure enough, there were numerous scars on the creature’s wrist and forearm above the convulsing right hand. It seems as though many attempts had been made to remove that hand. Using gyo, the injured thief inspected the hand. A pitch-black, shadowy aura surrounded it spasticity throbbing in an irregular pattern. The energy of it, however, was not directed outward or static as it would be with most nen techniques but inward, pulling at its surroundings and rushing inward. A black hole that looked capable of devouring suns despite it’s size was focused entirely on the palm of this monster’s right hand. Piecing together the situation, Feitan scrutinized its left hand with gyo but found nothing unusual about it.

“Don’t let it touch you with its right hand.” Feitan panted at Phinks who kept his eyes fixed intently on the enemy before him.

The monster’s mouth split into a grin that almost extended beyond its face. A high-pitched, wheezing giggle escaped its thin lips as its shoulders shook with amusement. It slapped its left hand onto its face, concealing most of it. Continuing to cackle, the beast slide the hand down its face until it could peer at the two pale-faced men between its emaciated, boney fingers. Black hair frizzing around its face, it starred with the murky, overgrown, stagnant ponds it had for eyes. They widened as Washa stopped sniggering and spoke.

“So you’ve figured me out?” it rasped. “Don’t think that means you’ve won.”

It lunged at the two spiders.

Phinks grabbed the back of Feitan’s shirt, hurling him far from the oncoming Washa before turning to meet the assailant, wild determination in his eyes.

“NO!” Feitan yelled conjuring his umbrella and tearing to out the sword concealed within. He struggled to get to his feet and collapsed onto the floor..

Washa slashed at Phinks with its nails, forcing him backwards and away from Feitan. Its speed seemed to have increased since draining Feitan and Phinks dodged each swipe with some difficulty and waited for a chance to retaliate. When he had almost backed into the wall, Phinks swung his right fist at the creature’s face in a straightforward attack as it was drawing back to strike with its left hand. Ducking beneath Phinks’ fist, Washa sprung at his neck, mouth wide, attempting to latch onto his throat. Phinks drew back his arm and hastily jumped back, focused on the glinting teeth. This was what the beast had planned on. With his attention fully on its mouth, Phinks failed to notice Washa’s right hand shooting up to seize his throat. Fingers tightly gripping the soft flesh of the surprised spider’s thick neck, the monster held him firmly against the wall, feet dangling helplessly above the ground.

Phinks could feel the same drain on his energy as Feitan had experienced a minute ago. Unable to breathe, he pulled at the fingers squeezing his neck, trying desperately to pry them off. He kicked out, hoping to land a hit that would distracting his assailant, even for a moment, but Washa easily avoided or absorbed the feeble blows. The muscles in the monster’s arm bulged, veins popping, as it put all its weight and strength into crushing Phinks’ trachea. The spider’s struggling growing steadily weaker, his eyes were beginning to lose focus and everything was going blurry as his lungs burned, begging for the oxygen he was unable to provide. The sound of Washa’s breathing and his own fruitless gasping was also become distorted and he slipped closer to oblivion. Another sound cut through the haze of noise, clear and recognizable, jolting Phinks out of his stupor.

Screaming, Feitan brought his sword down, aiming for Washa’s right arm. The creature, distracted by its captured prey, had not noticed the that the recovered thief had finally gotten to his feet and rejoined the fight. Dropping Phinks, it shot backwards, avoiding losing its hand but not escaping injury completely. The blade had cut deep and blood spewed from the wound, staining the dress the beast still wore. Scarlet flowed freely down its arm as it screeched clutching the injured body part to its chest.

Feitan darted to Phinks’ side and, keeping one eye on the horror currently nursing its wound, helped the unsteady man to his feet.

“Thanks, Fei.” Phinks leaned on Feitan, legs buckling and threatening to collapse. “Have a plan?”

Feitan helped Phinks over to the wall, unable to hold him up for long.

“I’m going to cut her right hand off.” Leaving Phinks to support himself against the wall, he rushed at Washa.

Feitan swung his sword repeatedly at the beast but it was quick to dodge each attack. Unwilling to let its attacker get the upper hand, Washa began to retaliate. It swiped out with its left hand, suspiciously telegraphing its move. Feitan didn’t try to dodge. Because of the direction his weight was shifting and the angle Washa’s left hand was coming at him, the only way he could avoid the attack was to put himself in the perfect position to be caught by its right hand which was already starting to grab for where Washa assumed he would be in less than a second. Too drained to guard with nen, he gritted his teeth and allowed the long, needle-like knives the monster had for nails rake down his chest with ease. Its physical strength was supplemented with the energy it had absorbed from Phinks. The claws slid deep through his flesh, carving four straight, bloody rows from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip. His shirt was torn to shreds and almost instantly soaked in blood. Ignoring the pain, Feitan sliced at the right hand now outstretched to where he would be if he had avoided the claws of its left hand. Washa, hosted by its own petard, noticed too late that its plan hadn’t worked and, with the all energy it had absorbed from the two spiders put into the force of its attack, it had too much momentum to draw back it right hand in time. It could only watch, wide-eyed in horror, as its right arm, cleanly severed halfway down the upper arm, spun across the room, flinging dark red blood against the walls and on the floor.

An overpowering, violent screech rang through the candle-lit cellar. It reverberated off the walls, cutting deep into the ears of the two thieves present. The effect of such a sound on any normal person would be likely be an overwhelming sense of dread or even fainting but to Phinks and Feitan it was a challenge, a challenge to force an even more tortured scream from their target.  

A burst of adrenaline prompted by the screech breathed new life into Phinks as he moved to cut Washa off from the ladder it was making an attempt for. Remaining hand clamped tightly around its useless stump, the savage hissed at Phinks who smirked back winding his arm. Making a desperate bid for freedom, Washa dashed at the spider, left arm extended, aiming to slash his throat.

Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Phinks let his attack fly when the horror was within range. Easily avoiding its feeble attempt to kill him, the enhancer connected with the beast’s left shoulder, punching its arm clean off.

Washa froze, silently watching one of its limbs go flying across the room for a second time as blood poured out of the hole torn in its body by the force of the spider’s strike. It mouthed incomprehensible words as it stared, unblinking at the place where its left arm used to be.

“I think we’re done here.” Phinks drew back again, this time aiming for the beast’s head.

After cutting off the fiend’s right arm, Feitan had turned to inspecting his wounds. He removed the bloody rags that had once been a shirt and began salvaging what he could for use as bandages to stem the still dangerously bleeding gashes on his pale, muscular chest. Phinks’ voice caught his attention and he looked up at his partner. Realizing Phinks’ intentions just before he swung his fist, Feitan yelled at him.

“We still haven’t interrogated Fatine yet!”

Phinks stopped mid-punch, momentarily confused and realized his mistake. In that moment, Washa made its last-ditch attempt at killing him. It lunged at him, mouth wide, teeth on full display, trying to latch onto his neck and tear out his throat. Phinks saw it coming barely in time to avoid teeth penetrating his trachea. Moving to his left, it was instead his right shoulder the creature’s jaws closed on. Forcing its teeth as deeply into his shoulder as it possibly could, Washa bit down, putting every ounce of energy it had left into locking the muscles in its jaws. Its mouth began filling with blood and, triggered by its metallic taste, the monster began shaking its head back and forth as violently and erratically as it could manage, trying to return the favor and tear Phinks’ arm off. Phinks could feel the muscles and tendons in his right shoulder being torn apart and inhaled sharply through his teeth at the pain. A particularly powerful jerk of Washa’s head dislocated his arm from his shoulder and he felt it go limp. Bringing his left fist up above the being’s head, he spoke to Feitan.

“I’ll be careful not to kill it but I’ve got to get it off before it does any more damage.”

“Okay,” Feitan went back to inspecting his own, more dire, wounds.

Awkwardly bringing his left fist down again and again on the monster’s skull, the right-handed spider managed to knock it out without killing it. When it lost consciousness, the entirety of its weight bore down on Phinks’ shoulder as the much shorter figure went limp. Gingerly, he tried prying its teeth out of his shoulder but the jaws had locked down, buried in his flesh, unwilling to let him go even when unconscious.

Phinks sighed with annoyance and dragged the cumbersome, armless body, teeth still embedded in his shoulder, towards Feitan as casually as he could.

“I could use some help, Fei.” Phinks stated, motioning at his shoulder. Blood was running down his useless arm and dripping off into the quickly forming pool at his feet.

“So could I.” Feitan kneeled on the ground and glanced cooly up at the blond man standing over him. His makeshift bandages were already saturated with blood and the lacerations on his body were still bleeding profusely.

The pair took a second to let their situation sink in before breaking into hysterical laughter.


	9. Let Me Help

Phinks and Feitan’s breathing returns to normal after the laughter subsides. Phinks scratched the back of his head with his one good hand and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

“No reception.” He put the phone back as cold despair began spreading through him. He was exhausted but afraid if he sat down he wouldn’t be able to get back up, whether or not he still had Washa’s unconscious body hanging from his right shoulder by its teeth.

“Of course there’s no reception. We’re deep underground, moron.” Feitan said quietly, not making eye contact. The carefree moment that had experienced a moment ago completely forgotten.

Phinks looked at the wounds on his partners chest. There was no way Feitan could climb that ladder on his own and he was in no shape to help with only one arm.

“That’s not going to be enough,” Phinks was trying to keep his voice even and calm. “Let me help.” He tugged at his own shirt, trying to get it off. Using his left hand was difficult but he managed to get it over his head, however, Washa’s teeth pinned the right sleeve to his arm. He pulled, despite the pain it was causing in his shoulder, but he was too uncoordinated and tired to free it from his body. The more he wrenched it the more blood flowed from his mutilated shoulder. He gave one last effort, using all the strength he had left, and gasped at the stabbing agony it caused his injuries.

“Don’t bother.” Feitan’s voice had grown softer as he sat, head down, slumped over.

“What now?” Phinks asks Feitan, matching his tone of voice.

The transmuter looked at the blood-soaked cloth wrapped around his torso and sighed forlornly.

Panic was starting to take hold of Phinks. Barely five minutes had passed since he was thinking about what Feitan meant to him and now… _Well,_ Phinks thought, _I always did want Feitan to be the one I died with…_ He struggled over to the small, broken spider. Standing over him, Phinks could see the massive bruising on Feitan’s back from being pounded against the wall. He knew from the aching that his own back would look no better. The blond thief collapsed onto the ground. Crossing his legs, Phinks put his left arm around Feitan and pulled his companion towards him. He rested his chin in the spider’s feathery, raven black hair.

“Fei,” Phinks’ voice rumbled low, “Talk to me.”

Feitan sighed again, this time with contentment. He leaned into his partner’s chest and gingerly wrapped his arms around the enhancer’s waist, pressing his cheek against Phinks’ warm skin.

“I really don’t know, Phinks. We still need what we came here for and I’m not certain if we can get it anymore. You can’t get that thing off you because your right arm is fucked beyond use and I’m going to pass out from blood loss in a minute. No one knows we’re down here and the only people who would care are miles away and we have no way to contact them from this hole.”

Phinks could feel tears trying to form but he fought them off. He moved closer to the transmuter, wishing more than anything in that moment that his other arm was capable at least of wrapping itself around Feitan.  There was so much he wanted to say to the person he was holding, so much he wanted to talk about and share and plenty of things he knew he never could. He made up his mind, to voice his thoughts, his feelings, to confess.

“Fei,” Phinks began softly.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” A sing-song voice rang out from the shadows by the ladder. Slowly, a pale figure in a crop top and heels moved into the candle light. His playful smile turning into a poor attempt at looking concerned as he gazed down at the pair. “You two look awful. Maybe I should’ve told you why I was here after all. Oh well, what’s done is done but you should probably bandage those wounds properly.” He pointed at Feitan’s chest.

The small, pale spider drew away from Phinks and glared accusingly at the magician.

“What do you mean ‘maybe I should’ve told you why I was here’?” he growled through his teeth. “Did you know about this?!” He pointed at Washa.

Hisoka put a finger on his cheek, cocked his head to one side, other hand on his hip.

“You don’t think I was at that bar for the drinks, do you?” Hisoka purred, “It’s too much to go into now but Chrollo told me to come here to retrieve something.”

“What?” Phinks barked as Hisoka began walking across the room. He tried to stand up but found his legs were unable to support to weight of both himself and the thing that had a death grip on his shoulder.

“This.” The magician picked up Washa’s severed right arm and examined it. “I don’t know why exactly and I don’t particularly care either but now I have it I can finally leave this dirt bowel.” He started walking back towards the ladder then stopped and turned around to look at the bloody spiders sitting on the floor. He sighed. “I suppose I can’t just leave you like this.” He pulled a roll of bandages out of nowhere and approached them.

“That thing is going to need bandages too. If it bleeds out and dies, we can’t get what we came here for.” Feitan tried to keep his growing rage towards Hisoka under control. It wouldn’t be a good idea to drive away the person helping them even if he most likely has ulterior motives.

“That seems like your problem.” Hisoka said cooly.

“But-” Phinks started.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me.” The magician said suddenly, smiling wide. “But you owe me one now.”

Feitan scowled at him and opened his mouth to argue but Phinks put a hand on his shoulder.

“We really don’t have a choice.” he said quietly to his partner. All he wanted was to get the both of them to a doctor for proper treatment and if that meant selling their souls to the devil, so be it.

Feitan backed off. “Fine!”

“Good.” Hisoka tossed the roll of bandages into Feitan’s lap and pulled another one out of nowhere.

_He planned this whole thing, didn’t he?!_ The dark-haired spider realized when the second roll of bandages appeared. He pushed his epiphany away for now. _I’ll discuss it with Phinks later._ He began unwrapping the improvised bandages from his torso.

Phinks tried again to pry Washa off his arm.

“Allow me.” Hisoka offered.

Grudgingly Phinks nodded. With little effort and surprisingly little pain, Hisoka removed the creature’s teeth from the blond spider’s flesh, renewing the stream of blood spilling from his shoulder.

“It’s dislocated.” the magician observed, “Shall I pop it back into place for you?”

Phinks would rather not be touched by the all too eager spider and figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to climb the ladder with one arm. “No, I think I can- SONOVABITCH!”

Hisoka, disregarding Phinks declining his proposal, had forced the arm back into it’s socket anyway with an uncomfortable sounding crack.

Phinks clutched his shoulder and curled up on the ground, caught between growling at Hisoka and hissing at the pain, a strange, strangled sound escaped his lips.

“You’re welcome!” The magician beamed brightly before turning his attention to bandaging the unconscious body. When Washa had been freed from Phinks’ shoulder, its appearance had reverted back to Fatine. Bulging, veiny muscles and fangs replaced with a delicate figure and perfect, albeit bloody, teeth.

Being unconscious slowed Washa/Fatine’s heartbeat enough that the amount of blood lost was not fatal. As Hisoka dealt with Fatine, Phinks and Feitan helped each other stop the bleeding and wrap their wounds securely.

“Done.” The tall, pale magician stood up. He admired his handiwork for a second before scooping up the severed right arm which kept its monstrous appearance despite the rest of Fatine returning to normal. “I almost regret not fighting it myself. It seems it was more impressive that I thought it would be. Unless, of course…” He trailed off glancing sideways at the beaten up pair still on the floor. They ignored the assertion, too tired to fight anymore.

After failing to get a rise out of them, Hisoka sighed and strutted over to the ladder. “I’ll see you two lovebirds back at the base.” He winked over his shoulder and started climbing up, the inhuman arm stuck to his side with his aura.

The sound of the trap door closing ran throughout the cellar. The six candles burned on, uninterested in the scene that had unfolded in their flickering, orange light.

Phinks lied down on the floor. “God, I hate that guy.” He huffed.

Feitan gazed down at him looking lost in thought.

“What?” Phinks asked.

“Nothing,” Feitan looked at Fatine, still unconscious a few feet away. “We have to wait until she wakes up so we should use this opportunity to plan our next move.”

“Next move?” Phinks echoed. “We won. She wakes up, we get the information, get to a doctor then go back to the others. Simple. We should take this opportunity to rest.” He glanced over at his partner who was staring off into space, neutral expression on his face. “I’m going to take a nap and suggest you do the same. Her screaming will let us know when she wakes up.” He continued looking at the transmuter who was still not responding.

Phinks sighed and closed his eyes. He was exhausted but the adrenaline still in his system was keeping him awake. A few minutes later, just as he was about to drift off, he heard the spider beside him moving then felt a weight on his bare chest. Opening one light brown eye slowly, he saw Feitan had rested his head on his chest and promptly fell asleep. Phinks joined him, a small smile playing across his face.


	10. Mission Accomplished

Phinks was right about the screaming. Bleary-eyed with sleep the two spiders sat up. Fatine lay near them screaming at the top of her voice. Feitan sighed, stood up and walked over to her.

“Fatine.” He resisted the urge to kick her to get her attention.

She looked up at the heavily bandaged man standing over her and went quiet.

“You…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked into his indifferent face.

A sudden flash of inspiration hit Feitan and her kneeled down beside her trying to feign concern.

“Some twisted monster attacked us. It knocked you out and brought you here. I chased after you and called my friend here,” he pointed at Phinks who had gone to retrieve the small package of torture instruments from where they lay, “but got here too late. We fought it off and bandaged you up but I’m sorry.” Feitan had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at the story he told and her reaction to it. Gratitude welled up in her eyes at his lies.

“You did all that for me?” She noticed the bandages wrapped around his torso. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.” The transmuter fought to keep his amusement out of his voice and facial expression and could see Phinks, standing behind Fatine, snickering into his hands. _It seems she has no memory of her transformation. Perfect_. “As long as you’re safe. I regret not being able to save you before…” He looked the armless woman. The laughter within him was getting dangerously close to spilling out. He covered his face to avoid looking at Fatine and keep her from noticing his convulsing facial expression. He let out a fake sob. “Before…” Another sob. His body was shaking with laughter but Fatine misinterpreted this as crying.

“Don’t cry!” She bawled, breaking down. “My family is extremely wealthy so affording prosthetics will be no problem. When I tell my father everything, I’m sure he will reward you handsomely for protecting me and maybe give you a job as a bodyguard. I’ll make sure you have everything you could possibly want.”

Feitan’s laughter died upon hearing this and he perked up. Slowly removing his hands from his face, he stared at her. The concern on his face mingling with intrigue. _This is it._

“There is one thing I want.” He confessed.

“Tell me! Anything you want, it’s yours.” She struggled into a sitting position and looked at him eagerly.

“Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but your father is the head of the Samara family, correct?”

“Yes…” She spoke slowly and began to look a little uneasy, “How did you know?”

“Well,” Feitan grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, “I and my friend here actually work for an underling of your father’s,” he recalled some of the facts Shalnark had thrown at him during the briefing and lied through his teeth, “And we wanted him to get us an audience with, if not your father himself, someone high ranking. We want to become a more integral part of the organization, you see, and we think we have the abilities to do great things for your family and to ensure your continued success. But he wanted to test us to prove this so he sent us out to discover the locations the Samara family’s three main strongholds a world-renown well-guarded secret. But you can tell us, can’t you?”

Her face lit up. “Of course! I grew up across those three strongholds. There are riches and artifacts like you wouldn’t believe stored in each so of course it’s a secret! I know that’s a common test for aspiring members of the Samara family and you’ve proven yourselves more than worthy. I could even take you there myself.” She revealed, in absolute detail, the locations as Phinks and Feitan committed each and every word to memory. When she had finished, she smiled brightly at the dark-haired man before her. “Does this mean I get to learn your name now?”

Feitan’s face went blank and cold. He stood up. Phinks tossed the bundle of cloth that contained the spider’s tools at him but the pale thief placed the package back on the floor.

“No,” the dead-eyed spider slashed her throat with his nails faster than a regular human’s eyes would be able to follow. Scarlet blossoming from her throat and an expression of shock fixed on her face, Fatine fell forward onto the ground.

“You’re a terrible actor.” Phinks said, admiring the transmuter's handiwork.

“Shut up,” Feitan wiped the blood on his hand on his pants. “Let’s go see that doctor.”

\--

The visit to the doctor was quick. When two blood-soaked, shirtless men, both of which look like they could throw a bus through your second-floor bedroom window, enter your clinic in the middle of the night wanting to be sewn back together after “being mugged”, you don’t take your time. After their wounds had been cleaned, disinfected, stitched, and re-dressed, Phinks and Feitan left, swiping some painkillers and antibiotics on the way out.

When they returned to hotel room, they got cleaned up and changed into the most comfortable clothes they had. Feitan wrote down the locations of the Samara strongholds so he could call Chrollo in the morning and report. He doubted the boss would appreciate being woken up at this ungodly hour in the morning even if it was good news. After he had finished, he remained sitting at the desk/vanity table hybrid, playing with a thread hanging from his loose-fitting shorts. It was too hot to wear a shirt over the bandages which covered most of his torso anyway.

Behind Feitan, sitting on one of the beds in a pair of dark green basketball shorts, was Phinks, applying more of _Afzal’s Sunburn Remedy_. Right leg bent towards him and left leg dangling off the edge, he would often pause in his endeavour to glance up at his partner, doing so more and more frequently as time went on. Feitan watched him out of the corner of his eye in the mirror. After a few minutes of this, the dark-haired spider spoke.

“Can I help you?”

Phinks jumped. Blushing a little he said, “I uhhh… I… I just have my back left to do… so…”

Feitan sighed and walked over to the bed. Taking the bottle from Phinks, he sat on the bed behind him. He poured some of the aloe lotion on hand and began rubbing it into Phinks' skin. Phinks' back was mottled purple, green, black and yellow with bruises and pink from the sun so the spider tattooed on his lower left back, half hidden under his shorts, was less obvious than it usually was on his normally tan skin.

Feitan's touch on his back brought Phinks both pleasure and pain because of this. The cool burn of the ointment mingled with the dull throbbing of his bruises and the sharper stabbing sensation that accompanied the transmuter’s massage applying pressure to his back. The whole experience was having an interesting effect on the blond spider. His breath caught in his throat slightly and he swallowed as his heart rate began to rise. He could feel his body temperature warming as blood coursed through him at an ever increasing intensity. Phinks held back a moan as he reveled in what he was feeling. Blood flowed swiftly through the veins and arteries of his body but began paying specific attention to one particular part of his anatomy. Phinks struggled against what his body was doing, trying to keep Feitan from noticing.

But the dark-haired spider was far too perceptive. Noticing the blush that was creeping across his partner’s skin, deep enough to be visible even under the sunburns and bruising, and the obvious boner, Feitan started sniggering.

“Lie down on your stomach.” the small thief commanded. He sat straight up on his heels and squeezed copious amount of the ointment onto his hand.

“W-wha?” Phinks choked out, disorientated and swaying slightly.

“Lie down.” Feitan repeated. He put the bottle on the nightstand beside him and lightly pushed Phinks forward with the hand not dripping with lotion.

“Okay…” The woozy spider complied, crossing his arms in front of him and burying his deeply blushing face in them. He shifted uncomfortably on his stomach as the hardness between his legs became more prominent.

Feitan moved forward to straddle the trembling spider, a mischievous smile playing across his pale face. Settling himself down on Phinks’ buttocks, he rubbed his hands together, distributing the ointment evenly between the two.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready for wh-,” Phinks inhaled sharply and squirmed a little as the small thief began his work. Feitan massaged every inch of blond thief’s battered back furiously, but was careful around the bandages concealing the stitches in his shoulder, and paying special attention to the spider inked into his skin. He would occasionally slip his hands under the waistband of the enhancer’s shorts playfully knowing full well the sunburns did not extend that far down.

 It wasn’t long before the blond spider had virtually melted into a warm pool of trembling and sweating. Phinks’ moaning smothered by his arms and the bed were still clearly audible and encouraged Feitan to continue, rougher than before. But there came a point when the frustrated mess of a thief couldn’t take anymore.

“Enough,” he said in a low moan. Feitan, whether because he didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him, persisted but Phinks was done.

Suddenly and violently, the blond spider flipped over and sat up, unseating the pale transmuter and knocking him back into the pillows at the head of the bed. The transmuter’s head collided with the headboard and he slid down onto the pillows. Phinks lept onto the rattled and bewildered spider, pinning him to the bed with one knee and placing his hands either side of his head on the bed so Feitan was completely covered by the larger Phinks’ shadow. Looming over the small thief, eyes hardened with anger, he thundered through gritted teeth, “I SAID THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Paler than usual and with his heart racing at the sudden aggressive action, Feitan looked up at his partner, surprise and awe playing across his face in equal parts tinged with a bit of fear. He could feel the intense body heat radiating off Phinks envelope him and it was beginning to excite him.

Upon noticing the shocked expressed on the small, pale thief’s face, Phinks’ expression softened. The memory of the sound Feitan’s head made when it hit the headboard reverberated in his mind and a feeling of sick guilt settled in his stomach.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Fei.” he gushed, taking his knee off the small thief’s bandaged chest, worried he may have reopened the wounds there. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m really sorry. I just-” Feitan’s laughter cut him off.

“It’s fine.” The small thief could feel the back of his head begin to throb but it was nothing compared to the abuse he endured in the cellar. A small smile flitted across his features as he recalled how Phinks had rushed to his aid when he was sure he was finished and how strangely okay he would have been with bleeding out after the fight since Phinks was the one with him.

Phinks gazed down at the man who lay between his hands. His big, rough, tan hands provided a stark contrast to the small, delicate, pale face beneath him. He was transfixed by how _fragile_ he seemed just lying there. Soft, flawless, porcelain skin that glowed in the dim room. Raven, lustrous, feathery hair that smelled sweet and flowery from a recent shower. Fascinating, fiery, deep-purple eyes that were fully engaged on the face above it. And so tiny. His tiny, tiny Fei. Phinks couldn’t help himself. He just had to. Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were pressed gently against Feitan’s.

Feitan was startled at first but quickly moved to intensify the kiss. His hands slid across Phinks’ shoulders until they came to the nape of his neck. Grabbing two fist-fulls of blond hair, he twisted his hands into the golden locks and pulled the enhancer towards him.

Phinks rested his weight on his elbows, caressing the transmuter’s face with his hands as he continued. His shoulder was beginning to hurt from holding him up so he carefully eased his body down on top of Feitan. In response, Feitan began running his tongue around the edge of the larger man’s mouth, toying with him. The blond spider pressed deeper, encouraging him to progress further. The pale thief complied. The first contact between his partner’s tongue and his own sent tremors down Phinks’ spine.

Phinks could feel himself getting hard again as his heart began pumping furiously. Not wanting to be the only one this time, he began sliding his hand down the side of Feitan’s bandaged torso, over his hip and down his thigh. When he reached the end of Feitan’s shorts, just above his knee, the blond thief slipped his hand inside them and began traveled back up the inside of his partner’s leg. Reaching mid-thigh, he paused. Phinks knew his hand was currently poised over the spider tattoo that Feitan, like himself, had been branded with years ago. Tenderly stroking the symbol, he pushed deeper into the small thief’s mouth.

All the while, Feitan was squirming slightly underneath Phinks’ bulk. He could feel the blond spider getting harder against his leg while he brushed his hand lightly up and down the inside of his thigh. The transmuter could feel his own erection forming and moaned slightly into Phinks’ mouth.

In response to this, the blond spider pulled out of the kiss and began tracing his way along Feitan’s jawline and down his neck with his tongue and teeth. Feitan shivered. Phinks felt Feitan’s erection poking him in the stomach and fought to hold back a giggle at how it reminded him how short his partner was. He planted a kiss loving at the base of the pale thief’s neck before digging in with his teeth and simultaneously moving his hand farther up Feitan’s leg than it had ever been before. The sudden aggressiveness displayed by the enhancer caught Feitan off-guard. Eyes wide, he bucked his hips violently and arched his back. What was first a moan quickly changed into a choking gasp as searing pain ran down his chest.

“Fuck,” he managed to coughed out. Phinks immediately stopped what he was doing and drew away from the smaller spider at this sound and the sudden change in Feitan’s body language.

“What was that?” Phinks asked. “Oh shit! Was it your stitches? Did you tear them out?!” The blond scrutinized Feitan’s chest but didn’t see any red blossoming on the white bandages.

“No but…” he spoke weakly, all the excitement of a few seconds ago knocked out of him. “That hurt. But I’m fine.” He trying pulling Phinks back down on top of him to finish what they had started but Phinks was beginning to worry.

“I’m… not really feeling it anymore.” He resisted Feitan’s attempts and crawled off him to sit beside the dark-haired spider instead. “My shoulder aches and my back’s throbbing and I’m just really tired in general. Maybe we should just get to sleep. We have to walk back tomorrow and it would be best if we got a good nights sleep to heal and rest up.” Phinks finished lamely.

Feitan scowled at him, clearly upset at the conclusion of the night. “Fine.” He muttered, turning his back on Phinks and laying back down.

Phinks stayed where he was for a minute, not sure what to do. Eventually he got up and turned off the light. In a moment of indecision he looked back and forth between the two beds. One empty and one containing a very discontent and irritated Feitan. Phinks decided to risk it and went back to Feitan’s bed. He layed down next to him and, upon receiving no response from his partner, positive or negative, he wrapped his arms around the smaller spider’s form and pulled him into his chest. Feitan stiffened up a bit at first but soon relaxed again.

“Good night, Fei.” Phinks murmured into Feitan’s hair contently.

“Good night,” Feitan sighed back. “Phinks.”

\--

The sun’s heat beat down on the hot, dry sand as it continued its climb up the sky and across the horizon. The desert seemed to be on a mission to be as uninhabitable as possible. Water was nowhere to be seen and what very little grew in the sand and rocks was scraggly and uninviting. In defiance, small lizards and bugs skittered over the sand, looking determinedly for food, water, or just trying to find a relatively cool place to spend the day. A few birds wheeled lazily around overhead. They were too high up to identify but their shadows drifted across the ground forebodingly.

“I forgot to ask, what did the boss say?”

“I gave my report but he didn’t answer my questions. Said he was busy and that he’d explain in person when we got back.”

“Oh.”

Two figures, one tall, one short, trekked through this wasteland, cloaked from head to toe. The short one was cloaked in black and walked with his hands in his pockets. He seemed to glide across the sand elegantly. His companion, however, was more ungainly. Tripping occasionally on rocks and small build-ups of sand, he walked right beside the shorter traveler. He wore an off-white desert robe that complimented his unhealthily pink skin perfectly. He also carried something. Holding it in a way that it protected the both of them from the UV rays being thrown down on them, Phinks carried Feitan’s umbrella under the sun.


	11. Epilogue

After hours of traveling across the unbearably hot terrain, Phinks and Feitan were relieved to see the base shimmering in the heat in the distance. The land around them was considerably different from the uninhabitable desert that surrounded the city they had left. More and more plants could be found springing up from the dusty ground, a few determined trees grew, throwing down shade on the rocks surrounding them, and the shape of the countryside was also growing more mountainous. Mammoth, forested mountains were barely visible on the horizon.

The Phantom Troupe’s base was a crumbling ruin of a long dead civilization situated inside a ring of colossal boulders. Unless you knew exactly where the passageway leading to the ruin centered in the ring’s clearing was, you wouldn’t stumble across the spider’s nest. The sandy walls of the building formed what was technically the top floor as most of the structure was carved out of rock underground where it was much cooler.

Phinks and Feitan entered the Troupe’s base exhausted and thrilled to be out of the sun. Inside was empty except for the top of a staircase leading underground, a few small boulders littered around, and four other spiders who were supposed to be on watch. Hisoka sat on the ground in the far corner playing with his deck of cards. When the two weary travelers entered, he looked up and gave them a small smile and wave before returning to his game. Bonolenov was laying in the ground in the middle of the room, back turned to the entrance, asleep. Near where he lay was Shalnark. He was sitting on a boulder, laptop balanced on his lap, playing a what seemed to be a very intense game. The glow of the screen lit up his cheerful face as he failed to notice the newcomers, too absorbed in his virtual endeavors. Behind him stood Kortopi, looking over Shalnark’s shoulder at the laptop screen. He noticed and addressed the returning pair.

“Oh, you’re back.” He spoke quietly, his visible eye crinkled slightly in amusement at Phinks’ pink appearance as Phinks closed the umbrella and handed it back to Feitan. “We thought you might not be able to make it back on your own after what Hisoka told us.” Shalnark, attention torn from his game, jumped up and ran over to the pair calling their names, a bright smile plastered on his child-like face, but quickly covered his mouth to smother his giggling at Phinks’ predicament. The enhancer stared icily down at the manipulator but otherwise said nothing.

“And what exactly did Hisoka tell you?” Feitan hissed. He and Phinks glared in the magician's direction but Hisoka ignored them.

“Not much,” Shalnark beamed, “Just that you ran into some trouble you two couldn’t handle on your own and he had to help you out.” Phinks snorted in disgust at this while Feitan merely narrowed his eyes in annoyance while un-conjuring his umbrella. “Anyway,” Shalnark continued, “I’ll take you to the boss. I want to know if you dug up any other interesting information on the Samara family I could sell over the internet.”

“How about the fate of the daughter of the Samara family’s boss?” Phinks suggested. “Thats gotta be worth something to somebody. Probably a lot to her family.”

“Yes! That would be perfect but we can deal with that after you’ve talked to the boss.” The three spiders started toward the staircase.

Bonolenov, whether or not he had been woken up by the conversation, continued as he was. Kortopi, however, was eyeing Shalnark’s laptop, carefully set aside next the the boulder the manipulator had been sitting on. Shalnark noticing this, turned back to the grey-haired conjurer.

“Don’t even touch it.” He said in a voice unusually stern for the typically lighthearted spider. Kortopi deflated at this, disappointment clouding his one visible eye. He resigned himself to just stealing the manipulator's seat.

 

\--

No one spoke as the trio of thieves strolled through the cool, dim passageways. There were many doors and other hallways branching off from their route which made getting lost in the underground maze a possibility for anyone not familiar with the winding tunnels.

When they arrived at Chrollo’s room, they found him lounging on his bed reading a book. Looking up when they entered the open door, he smiled.

“Welcome back.” He said pleasantly.  “I was worried you might not be able to make it back on your own after what Hisoka told me.”

Phinks scowled at the floor and muttered something under his breath about clowns, Shalnark, smirking, gazed nonchalantly around the room, and Feitan ignored the comment.

“I have a few questions relating to Hisoka actually. You said we could discuss this in person.” Feitan said looking Chrollo in the eye.

“Of course I’d be happy to answer your questions. It relates to your next mission.” Chrollo responded politely.

“Another mission already?!” Phinks groaned childishly. “But we just got back!” Feitan shot Phinks a dirty look but Chrollo just laughed.

“True, but don’t worry. You won’t have to leave for a while yet. I’m still working out the details so you’ll have time to rest and recover from those sunburns.” Phinks sighed but otherwise looked a little happier. Chrollo motioned towards a beaten up, faded, red couch and matching armchair Uvogin had moved all the way down to his room for him.

Shalnark turned to leave but stopped when Chrollo spoke.

“Actually, you should probably stay to hear this too.”

Shalnark, slightly confused but none-the-less happy to be in on the conversation joined Feitan and Phinks in settling down on the couch. Their leader made himself comfortable in the armchair and, with a small smile, nodded wordlessly at Feitan to begin.

“Well, the main question I have is why did you send someone out to retrieve the right arm of a mafia daughter?”

Chrollo put his head back and closed his eyes still smiling slightly.

“A while ago, someone contacted me. They said there was an item they were interested in purchasing and, if I managed to get my hands on it, it would be well worth my while. They said they were a collector of curiosities.”

“Okay but I don’t get why you actually sent someone to get it. If they’re a human collector, why didn’t you just send a couple people to rob them blind and sell their collection? Why are you doing what they asked?” Feitan voiced the confusion felt by all three of them.

Chrollo opened his eyes and looked at each of the three of them before answering.

“Ever heard of the Dark Continent?”


End file.
